Isn’t it ironic that learning a culture’s pseudo-language can get you ingrained faster than fluency in its native language?
Case in point, the wide use of Pidgin or “broken” English in most parts of Africa and the Caribbean. I recently penned a piece for Matador Abroad that takes you behind Nigeria’s Pidgin language culture.
Here’s an excerpt:
I’ll admit. Whenever a foreigner spews a few words of Yòrubá to me, regardless of delivery quality, I instantly warm up, throwing them a cheesy grin of approval. This gesture shows they’ve made an effort to learn my tribal tongue, one of 521 estimated Nigerian languages they could have chosen from.
If they open up with Pidgin English instead, I instantly perk up. Speaking Pidgin transforms them from visiting foreigner into one of hundreds of well integrated expatriates in Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital. There’s a certain intimacy that this form of broken English emits; a down-to-earth, survivalist approach to everyday living and hustling in Africa’s most populous nation….
Read the full article (and listen!) over at Matador Abroad.
Shot in Lagos, Nigeria